PULASKI COUNTY, Ga. — A Pulaski County pilot who survived after crashing his crop duster in September 2020 is counting his blessings months later.
Jake Boney’s crop duster struck a cellphone tower, tearing Boney and his plane into shreds. Although Boney survived the crash, he had to go through countless surgeries including reconstructive surgery on his face and legs.
But eight months after his accident, he’s back flying planes. “It could have been worse, I could have not been here so I say a prayer every morning on the way here when I crank her up, taxing out I’m just blessed to be here,” says Boney.
Boney says flying is something that he has always done, and is something that he enjoys.
“Flying I feel like it’s in my blood it’s a passion I’ve loved since I was a kid. It’s an adrenaline rush. I feel like I smile the whole time, if I’m not chewing gum I’m smiling because I love what I do, it’s thrilling,” says Boney.
Boney says the first time he stepped back into a cockpit after his crash, he had a simple conversation with his sister one day with his sister about flying.
After the conversation, he didn’t realize he would fly that day.
“My dad has a crop duster that we never fly, it was kind of my first stepping stone into crop dusting. I sat there and looked at my sister Regan and said ‘it’s a pretty day isn’t it?’ She looked at me and said ‘what are you about to do?’ I said ‘I’m about to fly that airplane right there’,” says Boney.
